The European Heart Journal has released a new study that says a COVID-19 infection can make a person’s blood vessels age by roughly five years. This effect is stronger in women than in males. The effect was even stronger in women who had “long COVID” symptoms including shortness of breath and tiredness after getting better from the infection.
Rosa Maria Bruno, the lead researcher from Université Paris Cité in France, said that blood vessels normally get stiffer as people get older. However, a COVID-19 infection can speed up this process, making it more likely that people would get cardiovascular disorders including heart attacks and strokes.
The study looked at over 2,400 people from 16 different nations. It used a gadget that analyzes how quickly a blood pressure wave travels between the neck and leg arteries to figure out the participants’ vascular age. A greater score means that the blood vessels are stiffer and older. The measurements were done six and twelve months after someone got COVID-19.
The study indicated that the pulse wave velocity of women with moderate infections went up by 0.55 meters per second on average. This is clinically important and is about the same as aging by five years. The rise was significantly bigger for women who were in the hospital or in intensive care.
The researchers said that the COVID-19 virus can attach to certain receptors on the lining of blood vessels, which can cause the blood vessels to not work properly and speed up the aging process. They also said that women usually have a stronger immune response than men. This can protect them against the first infection, but it can also hurt blood vessels later on.
An editorial about the study says that COVID-19’s “vascular legacy is real, measurable,” and asks if “we can find modifiable targets to prevent this in future surges of infection.”